According to new research, HR professionals in the UK face increasing stress due to excessive workloads. Financial pressures are also a major factor.
According to a study conducted by the HR software provider Ciphr, only 6.3 per cent of HR professionals report that they have never felt stressed at work.
In the survey, 94 percent of respondents reported experiencing some form stress at work, with workloads as the leading cause (29%) cited. The survey also revealed that rising costs (26%), employee retention (24%) and managing budgets (24%) were major concerns.
Burnout is a risk.
Nearly a quarter of HR professionals (23%) feel so stressed that they are exhausted and burnt out. The number of HR professionals who feel stressed increases dramatically when they work for larger organizations. This level of chronic stress is reported by over a third of HR staff at organisations with more 1,500 employees. This suggests that there may be a correlation between the size of an organisation and its HR-related pressure.
Stress due to a heavy workload is more prevalent in large workplaces. One third of HR professionals in companies with more than 1,500 employees said that they were overwhelmed by their work, compared to around 27 percent for smaller and mid-sized organizations (those with between 50 and 1,499 staff).
Other stress factors include recruitment and skills shortages (23%) too many meetings (20%) conflict at work (18%), and stress due to misconceptions about HR functions (18%). Another 17 percent identified employee management as another major stressor.
Support for HR professionals
The Ciphr research shows that HR needs to improve its support systems. The respondents cited many factors that contribute to stress. These included lack of tools and resources (16%), being under constant pressure (15%), strict reporting deadlines (14%), and the complexity of compliance with employment laws (13%).
Claire Williams, chief people officer and operations officer of Ciphr noted that although much attention is paid to employee well-being, HR professionals are not always given the same support.
Williams said that HR professionals spend so much of their time on the business, they don’t give priority to the needs of employees. There may be an assumption made that HR professionals are better at dealing with stress than other employees because they have a job in HR.
This research highlights the need for organisations, despite rising costs, to provide a better balance between work and life, as well as more manageable workloads. It also provides further support for HR. HR teams face more challenges than ever before, including a need to do more with less, while navigating reforms and employment laws that are becoming more complex and constantly changing.
These findings are also in line with Ciphr’s previous research, conducted in August 2024. That study found that 86 per cent of UK adults report experiencing work-related stresses at least once every month. And 11 percent reported feeling stressed on a daily basis.
